Disruptive Innovations – investing outside the box

It feels very appropriate to talk about investing in disruptive innovation at a time when all of our lives have been so seriously disrupted by Covid-19.   Many investors are drawn to the “retail” investments peddled by banks and insurers. Huge amounts of money are given to East African governments in the form of Treasury Bonds and Bills that pay between 9% and 15% per annum before withholding taxes are applied. And post-Covid what will your KES, UGX, ZAR, TZS or RFR actually be worth? And how safe do you think East African government debt will actually be? The default investment for many East Africans has traditionally been property but in a damaged economy property looks like the most illiquid of assets – and a likely victim of a global correction in prices.    Of course there is a place for retail investments – low risk, short and fixed terms, average return, taxable, passive income. But in a world where access to markets has never been easier, the digital economy grows exponentially, and technological innovation has the potential to transform economies, it makes sense for investors to disrupt their own investment portfolios and to increase the risk-return ratio for a small proportion of